1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical switches used to control area lighting in rooms of buildings or the like, and more specifically to a switching system that automatically activates the lighting system within the room by monitoring the opening and closing of entranceway door(s) of the room in order to determine the presence of a person therein.
2. Descriotion of the Related Art
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the ciaims of the instant invention; however, the following references were considered related:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,930 issued to Steven M. McDaniel; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,169 issued to Morihiko Toyozumi et al.; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,162 issued to Steven M. McDaniel; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,337 issued to Duhame et al.; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,257 issued to Richard D. Moss; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,643 issued to Herbert A. Thompson; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,975 issued to James E. Kinzie; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,371 issued to Dennis D. Talmage et al.; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,615 issued to Masashi Okada et al.; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,211 issued to Robert M. Murphy et al.;
While several features exhibited within these references are incorporated into this invention, alone and in combination with other elements, the present invention is sufficiently different so as to make it distinguishable over the prior art